As I've said, I like Sasha, but what I want to see from GMGM is that he has a vision beyond just letting Semin walk for nothing. If he didn't want Alex on this team, he should've traded him a the deadline for SOMETHING... any argument that he couldn't get value is ridiculous since a late-round pick would be more than the absolute nothing we got.

But he didn't, so I am hoping there's a method to this madness. I want to see a plan to improve our offense, not just trade one roster vacancy for another. If he believes in this "addition by subtraction" stuff, then he better be damn sure we'll see some strong offense this coming year from either our current roster or another addition.

The moves this offseason -- outside of the draft -- have not looked orderly/rationale/deliberate to me at all.

You can't trade him at the deadline, because you can't just give up on making the playoffs like that. Even if you don't think you're going to go very far you have to take the chance, and you can't say no to the extra revenue.

That said, unless Semin was pulling other guys down via attitude or whatever (which is as much an indictment of them as it is of him, if it's actually true), the addition by subtraction stuff is pure bunk. Is there value in moving on and going in a different direction? I imagine so. But status quo - Semin isn't a new direction; they've got to make other changes for it to have any meaning.

It's like we got dumped by our girlfriend and we refuse to accept it. Emotions are high. And, in 5 years, we'll look back and laugh because the miserable witch did us such a huge favor.

Losing Semin is like that. And some of us are all ready to start asking out new girls.

("Miserable witch" is a little harsh for #28. Artistic license.)

It does make you wonder, that with girlfriends like
- Alex Semin
- Dennis Wideman
- Keith Aucoin
- Chris Bourque
are the Capitals susceptable to attracting flawed girlfriends or is it the Capitals/boyfriend that is flawed at assessing girlfriends.

I'm struggling to understand how a group of pictures with no context indicates that Semin wasn't a bad lockerroom influence.

I'm struggling to understand how all of us here are experts on the Caps locker room, when there seems to be no evidence that he actually is a bad lockerroom influence other than Matt Bradley, who is going to be playing in the AHL next year, and David ****ing Steckel.

Matt Bradley turned on his ex-teammates and did something that everyone in the NHL considers taboo by talking to the media about what goes on in the clubhouse. He had sour grapes about not being extended by the Caps. I never heard of Alex Semin having anything bad to say about anyone on the team. Semin had a role to play and just because he doesn't play good ol' Canadian boy style hockey, Matt Bradley decided to take a pot shot at him. I never bought it. Coming from a guy with a huge heart but not much else to offer it never held water with me. He was just bitter because he wasn't good enough to play here.

Matt Bradley turned on his ex-teammates and did something that everyone in the NHL considers taboo by talking to the media about what goes on in the clubhouse. He had sour grapes about not being extended by the Caps. I never heard of Alex Semin having anything bad to say about anyone on the team. Semin had a role to play and just because he doesn't play good ol' Canadian boy style hockey, Matt Bradley decided to take a pot shot at him. I never bought it. Coming from a guy with a huge heart but not much else to offer it never held water with me. He was just bitter because he wasn't good enough to play here.

Morrissonn, Boudrea, and TEB also had things to say about him.

And you've never heard of Semin having anything bad to say because, well, you've never heard of Semin having anything to say.

How on Earth do you know that the culture and playoff success remain the same?

And when ex-teammates come out bashing Schultz and Johansson, this post might have a sliver of merit. As of right now, it's got none.

Before Semin it was Boudreau and Fleischmann and Nylander and Theodore and...

One by one the scapegoats have been shipped out. Yet the overall result stays the same. Remind me again how Semin is different? Because Matt Bradley didn't like him? Losing our second leading goal scorer and point getter is not going to make this team better.

And you've never heard of Semin having anything bad to say because, well, you've never heard of Semin having anything to say.

Because hockey players are definitely smarter than hockey fans (who are mostly really stupid). Bradley's comments certainly sounded like they were mostly assumption-based. The fact that a few morons like Bradley and Morrisonn came together and validated each other's assumptions doesn't strike me as particularly compelling. Semin is like the quiet kid in class in high school or whatever, the one who seems weird, etc. Of course that kid is ****ing maligned and ostracized. That doesn't mean the assumptions made are accurate.

Before Semin it was Boudreau and Fleischmann and Nylander and Theodore and...

One by one the scapegoats have been shipped out. Yet the overall result stays the same. Remind me again how Semin is different? Because Matt Bradley didn't like him? Losing our second leading goal scorer and point getter is not going to make this team better.

I'm really not sure what your point is. Because Theodore and Fleischmann were rightfully bashed for their soft playoff performance, Semin shouldn't be? Because Nylander was rightfully bashed for his laziness and poor professionalism, Semin shouldn't be? Is that it?

Fleischmann, Theodore, and Nylander have absolutely nothing to do with Semin. It's just yet another deflection.

You still have no idea if the culture has changed or if the playoff performance has changed. No one will know until next summer.

Because hockey players are definitely smarter than hockey fans (who are mostly really stupid). Bradley's comments certainly sounded like they were mostly assumption-based. The fact that a few morons like Bradley and Morrisonn came together and validated each other's assumptions doesn't strike me as particularly compelling. Semin is like the quiet kid in class in high school or whatever, the one who seems weird, etc. Of course that kid is ****ing maligned and ostracized. That doesn't mean the assumptions made are accurate.

Right. We should believe hockey fans, who have little-to-no access to the team behind closed doors, over hockey players that were actually behind those closed doors.